Pheeble Will

(1) Find out the purpose behind Heck Gunderson's visit to the Ultra-Luxe. (2) (Optional) Ethel Phebus wants her husband, Walter, to forget about Heck Gunderson and return to their ranch. (3) Heck Gunderson is looking for his disappeared son. Talk to Walter Phebus about this. (4) Walter has let go of his will for revenge, and can now return Ethel to their ranch.

This side quest can begin just about any time after you arrive at the New Vegas Strip. Near the central area of the Strip, outside of such casinos as the Ultra-Luxe and the Tops, you should find an elderly couple walking around. This elderly couple goes by the name of Walter and Ethel Phebus. First, speak with Walter, who will give you a brief rundown on why you're here. It appears that they are farmers out in the Mojave Wasteland, and their land is currently in the process of being forcibly taken over by a land magnate named Heck Gunderson. When you speak with Ethel hereafter, you'll learn that she wants to return home, and get Walter's mind off of this entire ordeal. But it's really up to Walter whether he moves on or not.

Now here's where things get complicated. You see, this side quest is wrapped up directly with the Side Quest known as Beyond the Beef . If you intend on completing that side quest in such a way that you end up on the good side of the White Glove Society that runs the Ultra-Luxe, like we did in our own playthrough, then you need to get this side quest out of the way as quickly as possible. If you don't, you risk dragging the side quest on to the point that it directly interferes with Beyond the Beef, thus putting you in a bit of a pickle that might be hard to get out of. The best way to do this is to speak with Heck Gunderson directly after talking to Ethel and Walter out on the Strip. You can find him sitting at the bar at the Ultra-Luxe Casino, on the first floor. When you engage him in conversation, you'll begin to learn a bit about why he's here in the first place.

Basically, Gunderson does business with the White Glove Society that controls the Ultra-Luxe Casino. But while going about his business, his son went missing. It's a this point that the aforementioned Beyond the Beef side quest will open up, since Gunderson's boy's disappearance is intimately intertwined in the events of that particular side quest. Meanwhile, you still need to figure out a way to separate the plight of Gunderson and his son from that of the farmers outside, since if you misstep in that quest, you'll risk angering the White Glove Society, which won't jive well with the way our walkthrough went. The best way to do this is to stop speaking with Gunderson, head back outside, and engage Walter in conversation once more. With a 75+ Speech skill, you can convince him to head home without shedding any blood, which seems to be the outcome he had originally wanted. Doing so will successfully conclude this quest (as opposed to outright failing it) while keeping the Beyond the Beef side quest intact.

So let's recap. You don't have to finish this side quest like this. But if you're following our Walkthrough , you'll definitely want to. Doing so will allow you to keep things neutral with the White Glove Society at the Ultra-Luxe, while keeping the Gunderson saga in play, and still allowing you to successfully complete this side quest without stagnating it, or worse yet, outright failing it. If none of that matters to you, however, then delve into Beyond the Beef and let the dice fall where they may. Just keep in mind that if you do, there's no guarantee what will happen. Remember -- you can't make Gunderson, Walter and Ethel, and the White Glove Society happy at the same time. You must pick and choose, and in our playthrough represented here, we did just that. Understanding, of course, that not everyone will have a 75+ Speech skill when they undertake this quest, you can always return to it later when you do.